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Complete List of English Prepositions A-Z (Free PDF)

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The word preposition has a straightforward definition: a word placed before a noun or pronoun to define its relationship with another word in the sentence. There are 8 types of prepositions in the English language. Prepositions can be divided in to these categories:

8 Types of Prepositions

1. Preposition of time: Generally shows when something happens, happened or will happen in the future.

There are several prepositions of time such as, at, on, in, before, during and after.

2. Preposition of place: Used to refer to a place where something or someone is located.

The three common prepositions of place are on, at and in.

3. Preposition of movement: Show direction or destination in which something or someone is moving towards.

Common prepositions of movement are to, from, into, out of, towards, up, down, round, through, across, etc.

4. Preposition of manner: Show the way something happens or how a certain thing happened or is done.

Common prepositions of manner are by, in, like, with and on.

5. Preposition of of agent of instrument
6. Preposition of measure
7. Preposition of source
8. Preposition of possession

If you are looking for complete list of English prepositions with example sentences, check the list below. You can also get free English prepositions PDF with prepositions exercises.

Prepositions Types and Examples

Preposition	Type	Example Sentence
above	position	Clouds were above the mountain top.
across	position	The cat lay across my bed.
across	direction	They walked across the street.
after	time	After work, she ates dinner.
against	position	Don’t lean against the wall.
against	direction	He threw the glass against the wall.
along	direction	The road led along the river.
among	position	The dog hid among the cars.
around	position	There was tall trees around the house.
around	direction	They run around the tree.
at	location	He doesn’t drink coffee at work.
at	time	Show begins at 10 PM.
away from	direction	Stay away from me please.
before	time	Before class, I couldn’t find my bag.
behind	position	I saw him behind the house.
below	position	There is a small room below the building.
beneath	position	She sat beneath the tree.
beside	position	Come and sit beside me.
between	position	There was a wall between our houses.
by	position	She was living by the lake.
by	time	By the time I got there she’d gone.
down	direction	The ball rolled down the hill.
during	time	She was watching me during the game.
for	time	They were in Turkiye for two weeks.
from	direction	She comes from the USA.
from	time	The class lasts from 2:00 PM to 4 PM.
in	position	My books are in my backpack.
in	location	I learned English in school.
in	time	The match ends in 30 minutes.
in front of	position	The car was parked in front of the school.
inside	position	My cat was inside the box.
into	direction	She slowly walked into the house.
near	position	The bank was near my home.
next to	position	Train station was next to the movie theater.
off (of)	direction	Books fell off (of) the table.
on	position	These was some money on the table.
on	location	Her house is on Love Street.
on	time	Our holiday begins on Friday.
onto	direction	The dog jumped onto my lap.
out of	direction	There was a beautiful beach when you got out of the hotel.
outside	location	She was outside the house all night long.
over	position	There was a beautiful rainbow over building.
over	direction	Jumping over the snake wasn’t easy.
through	position	There was a tunnel through the mountain.
through	direction	She walked through the tunnel.
till	time	She waited till John arrived home.
to	direction	Mary walked to the school.
to	time	School is from 9 to 12.
toward(s)	direction	The ship sailed towards the horizon.
under	position	The cat is under her table.
under	direction	The whale swam under the boat.
underneath	position	She was hiding underneath the blanket.
until	time	I can’t wait until winter.
up	direction	I walked up the hill to see the sunset.